Former J&K deputy CM Muzaffar Baig leaves PM Modi’s rally in Srinagar over alleged 'ill-treatment'

Muzaffar Baig, a Padma Shri awardee, and his wife Safeena Baig were seated in the public gallery where District Development Council (DDC) members and BJP workers were seated.

Srinagar: A prominent figure in Kashmir politics and former deputy chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir Muzaffar Baig on Thursday left Bakshi Stadium, here, in a huff even before arrival of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, after feeling “insulted over the seating arrangements”.

Baig, a Padma Shri awardee, and his wife Safeena Baig were seated in the public gallery where District Development Council (DDC) members and BJP workers were seated. He arrived with his wife, who is chairperson of DDC Baramulla, at around 10.30 am but left soon over alleged ill treatment.

“Baig Sahab has come as a Padma Shri awarde to attend prime minister’s rally. It is a government function not a BJP rally. But you see how the J&K administration treated Baig Sahab and has left no special seat for him,” his wife Safeena told reporters.

While security officers of Jammu and Kashmir police tried to persuade high profile couple to stay, they didn’t agree and left in a huff.

Baig, who was a co-founder of the PDP in the late 1990s, had left the party on November 14, 2020 after differences with Mehbooba Mufti. On Janurary 7, this year he had rejoined the PDP at the Bijbehara graveyard on the death anniversary of party founder Mufti Mohammad Syed.

However, on February 20, he was seen at Modi’s rally in Jammu’s Maulana Azad stadium, where he again disassociated himself from the PDP. There are reports that Beig may join the BJP ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.